The Ramaswamy and Elon Musk-led DOGE could work — if MTG doesn’t ruin it

For decades, one of the most overpromised and underdelivered campaign pledges has been to reduce waste, fraud and abuse in government. Americans want to know that their tax dollars won’t be squandered and that their government will not spend $400 on a hammer.

A few weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump announced the formation of a new advisory group called the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE. Although its name suggests a government entity, DOGE will be an nongovernment commission, operating independently. It will only be able to provide recommendations to the president and Congress, and like many of Trump’s early announcements, details about what it might do remain scarce.

We do know who will lead it, however: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. According to Trump’s post on X, the duo “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.” But due to Musk and Ramaswamy’s reputations — both have taken increasingly aggressive stances on social issues, prioritizing trolling and “own the libs” rhetoric — the reception from Democrats has been mostly pessimistic.

This is perhaps understandable. Trump’s return to the Oval Office has engendered an explosion of cynicism and distrust from many on the left. Trump’s various pledges to punish political opponents aren’t helping. Even so, Democrats need to try to fight against that cynicism — especially when it comes to the problems that politicians on both sides of the aisle can clearly see need fixing.

There’s a long history of presidents tasking commissions with streamlining government, leading to ideas that were both praised and panned. President Theodore Roosevelt’s Committee on Department Methods was tasked with investigating and reporting on “ways to improve business methods and practices of Executive departments” from 1905 to 1909. President Ronald Reagan created the Grace Commission, and President Bill Clinton formed the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. All had successes and less than stellar reviews.  

Yes, the two men in charge of this most recent effort are flame throwers. I think Ramaswamy is mostly in this for the publicity and will likely fade away once he realizes how hard the work of meaningful government reform is. Candidly, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie nailed it a primary debate in 2023, when he called Ramaswamy “the most obnoxious blowhard in America.”  

And many Democrats have significant political and policy differences with Musk. His systemic destruction of X, boosting of conspiratorial and antisemitic thinking, offensive and at times dangerous jokes and attacks on free speech have won him few progressive friends. But I believe he is also brilliant. Perhaps he will have a unique way at viewing and finding areas of government that could truly use a reconfiguration.

For now, let’s ignore Musk’s unrealistic call for $2 trillion in budget cuts. He hasn’t even opened the books, and like Trump, has a habit of repeating misinformation. 

When people outside of government look at how government is structured, shock is natural. But then the challenge begins. I don’t think it’s a bad thing for outsiders to be part of this process. New perspectives can help identify opportunities for innovation and improvement, while highlighting potential weaknesses.

And to be clear, Musk and Ramaswamy may find that maintaining the status quo is a very bipartisan practice. Every lawmaker has their favorite lobbyists and pet projects. But in a positive sign, some members of Congress are already signaling they will try to keep an open mind. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who represents Silicon Valley, indicated there could be bi-partisan collaboration when looking at notoriously inefficient corners of government, like the defense budget.

More worrying to me is the dark cloud of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. After being removed from her committee assignments in 2021 for vile, hateful comments, Greene is poised to become the chairperson for a new subcommittee that will work with DOGE. Her involvement will make any collaboration between Musk and Democrats much more difficult. And there’s the risk that she will enable Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s worst impulses. In other words, she could be the biggest obstacle for a successful, bipartisan efficiency effort.

Will Musk be able to find ways to work with a Congress that too often defaults to partisan gridlock? We shall see. Restructuring parts of the federal government requires someone who knows how to build things, not just demolish them.